Organizers expect play-off feel for the 8-Man Football Kick-off Classic Saturday in G.I.

With Friday night lights about to glow, it’s Saturday night lights that will shine bright this week with the 8-Man Football Kick-Off Classic making its debut at Grand Island’s Memorial Stadium this Saturday, August 29.

The event will showcase some of the top 8-man high school teams starting in the early noon and running through the night.

 The pigskin will begin to fly at 1:30 with Arapahoe vs. Clarkson, followed by a 4:30 match with Dundy County Stratton vs. Hartington-Newcastle, and the night will cap off with a 7:30 battle between Elm Creek and Lawrence-Nelson.

Rusty Fuller, athletic director at Hartington Newcastle said the idea for this eight man showcase came about while he was coaching in summer camp.

“Last summer I coached the 8-man all-star game in Hastings and along with some of my friends on the 8-man board of directors, we talked that week about coming up with some kind of showcase for 8-man (football) like they do for basketball in Grand Island.”

From there Fuller said the wheels started turning.

After they brainstormed about how it would look, Fuller said they decided to reach out to Grand Island Senior High to share the idea and ask them about hosting.

Fuller said after talking to the athletic director, the showcase, which was once just an idea, was about to come to fruition. 

“Chris Ladwig was very interested in the idea,” said Fuller. “Chris is doing a great job organizing everything,” he added.

From there the next step was checking with the Nebraska Schools Activity Association (NSAA) to seek approval of the event.

 Fuller said they too gave thumbs up on the idea.

“The biggest thing for that was picking a Week-1 opponent that would also put you down on the priority list and make sure you both wanted to play in Grand Island.”

Fuller said the NSAA did everything in its power to accommodate the requests.

The idea of having the eight-man showcase in Grand Island was something Fuller and his co-conspirators thought of holding in Central Nebraska not only because of its location but because of the nice field in Grand Island and with the state fair going on at the same time and the number of people already in town.

He added that each team will be playing an opponent they don’t normally face during the season, to make the games interesting.

He said after the publicity got out about this showcase, players and fans started to jump on board.

“Once the word got out the kids and their parents got hyped for this event,” said Fuller.

Fuller said he expects an exciting, playoff type atmosphere for the games.

“With there being three games, we hope it will have a championship type feel to it,” he said.

 He added that since most other high school games should be done by Friday night, he hopes this will allow more people to attend and see some more good football.

With the field at Grand Island Senior being a 100 yard field, the ten yard line will be the endzone and other adjustments to make it regulation size for these games.

Fuller said he hopes this event will be a big success and a regular thing in years to come.

“We are going to kind of see how it goes,” he said. “But I foresee a very successful kick-off classic.”